On the US-Mexico border, loved ones on both sides can see each other but cannot touch
‘How many years has it been since we have seen each other?’
At Friendship Park, the westernmost point of the US-Mexico border, just south of San Diego, US Border Patrol agents help to facilitate and monitor weekend reunions between families separated by the massive barrier – and, by extension, by US immigration policies. Mexicans and Americans have met in the area since the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, and the border was redrawn, significantly favouring the US. Friends and families were able to touch one another through the fence before metallic mesh was added in 2011 for security. With quiet compassion, Monument | Monumento captures several of these unconventional and frequently tearful family reunions, some of which have been decades in the making.
videoGender
In an act of resistance, Elahe forgoes a hijab at a family party
27 minutes
videoDemography and migration
The volunteers who offer a last line of care for migrants at a contentious border
30 minutes
videoHistory
In Stalin’s home city in Georgia, generations clash over his legacy
20 minutes
videoAnthropology
Margaret Mead explains why the family was entering a brave new world in this 1959 film
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5 minutes
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21 minutes